Life Goes On: New Beginnings
by Lissical
Summary: 4A in my Life Goes On series. Ryan and Gabi have split up. Ryan has custody of their two children Theresa and Michael. What happens when Gabi's new beau isn't all that he seems to be? FINAL CHAPTER NOW UP!
1. Starting Over

**Title: New Beginnings **

**Author: Lisa (a.k.a. Lissical)**

**Summary: Sequel to "And Baby Makes Six." Ryan and Gabi have split up. Ryan has custody of their two children Theresa and Michael. This is more of a sister story to "And Baby Makes Six" rather than a sequel, but it is Ryan-centric. **

**A/N: This story takes place 4 months after the last story left off. If you remember, Gabi was 5 months pregnant at the time, so that means she is now…you guessed it! She's 9 months pregnant. So the real question is, how much attention will she give Theresa and Michael after the baby's born? And what about Rob? Hmm, something is fishy about him, don't you think?**

**Disclaimer: I only own the characters I made up; everything else belongs to Disney.**

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_**New Beginnings (1?)**_

Ryan walked through the house, making sure the realtor was telling the truth. He walked into the kitchen, which wasn't huge, but wasn't small. The living room connected to the dining room, both of which were nicely sized for three people. There was a den on the first floor which Ryan decided to turn into the computer room/office. He walked down the stairs to the basement which was thankfully finished. It was the perfect size for what he wanted to put in there and there was even a full bathroom down there. He walked up the stairs to the second story, which consisted of the bedrooms, a bathroom, and linen closet. He walked into the bedroom which was to be Theresa's and smiled. It looked exactly like the picture. He knew that she was going to love it. Across the hall was Michael's future room which was about the same size and mostly blue. Ryan smiled to himself, knowing that Michael would love it, since he seemed to love all things blue. The bathroom was what he expected it to be, and the next bedroom (which would serve as a guest room) was a perfect size for what he wanted to put in it. The master bedroom/bathroom was perfect as well.

He walked back outside and around the house to the backyard, which had a swing set, slide, and a nice patio. "This will do just fine," he said to himself as he walked back to his car and drove to Troy and Sharpay's house, since they were watching Theresa and Michael.

* * *

Theresa paced around the family room, waiting for her dad to return. She knew he was looking at the house and wanted to go with him, but he told her she would have to wait until he looked at the house himself first. She saw Troy walk into the room and walked over to him. "When's my dad coming, Uncle Troy?"

"He'll be here soon; don't worry." He smiled and kissed her head.

She sighed and walked back to where she was playing. Larissa was in the family room as well, playing with her doll house. Since it was now September, Larissa was officially a kindergartner. She and Theresa were going to the same school; Theresa was now in second grade and Michael was still in preschool.

When the doorbell rang, Theresa sprinted across the family room and towards the door. "Whoa, be careful honey," Sharpay said when Theresa nearly ran her over.

Theresa blushed, "Sorry Aunt Sharpay."

"It's all right; I know how excited you are," she said with a smile as she opened the door.

"Daddy!" Theresa exclaimed when she saw him.

"Hi sweetheart," he said as he picked her up. "Were you good for your aunt and uncle?"

"Mmm-hmm," she said with a smile. "Michael was good too." She paused, "So can we go see the house now? Please?"

He chuckled, "Not yet; we need to go home first and I need to make some calls. Since tomorrow is Sunday, we will go look at it tomorrow, since you've got school on Monday. Does that sound good?"

"I guess."

"Good." He set her down and hugged his sister, "Thanks for watching them."

"As always, it was no problem," she said, returning the hug. "Michael's in the family room watching "Finding Nemo" with Ana," she said, knowing that Ryan was about to ask where Michael was.

He smiled, "Thanks." He walked into the family room and saw Michael. "So how's Nemo doing," he asked, startling Michael.

He turned around. "Daddy! Nemo's lost," he said sadly.

"I'm sorry to hear that; but you do know what happens, right," he asked in a whisper, so not to ruin the movie for Ana and the twins who had yet to see the whole thing without falling asleep.

"Yep, he go…" Ryan shushed him.

"Don't ruin it for them, silly," he said as he tickled him. Michael laughed. "So, are you two ready to go home," he asked after a minute.

"I am!" Theresa said as she walked to the door. "Bye Aunt Sharpay and Uncle Troy," she called.

"Bye sweetie; come visit us soon, okay," Sharpay said. Theresa nodded and hugged Sharpay.

Troy walked into the foyer, "We'll see you soon," he said as he kissed and hugged Michael and Theresa. "Dinner in two weeks, right," he asked.

"That's the plan," Ryan said, since next weekend was Gabi's weekend to have the kids.

"Come on daddy," Theresa said, quickly changing the subject. She didn't want to stay with Gabi. Now that she was 9 months pregnant, her attitude had changed. Theresa didn't understand that it was mainly the hormones that were making Gabi a little rough around the edges, so she simply thought her mom was suddenly mean. She was also not looking forward to seeing Rob. He was never very nice to Theresa; he kept sending her to her room, even if she didn't do anything wrong.

"Hello, earth to Theresa," Ryan said, bringing his daughter back to the present.

She looked at Ryan, "Sorry daddy." She followed him outside to the car. "Daddy, watch," she said. She took the seatbelt and pulled towards her and buckled it. "I did it!"

He smiled, "Great job, sweetheart. I knew with practice you'd be able to do it."

She smiled, "I know."

"Ready to go home," he asked as he started the car and backed out of the driveway.

* * *

Gabi walked around the house looking for Rob. "Rob, where are you," she called out.

He walked over to her, "Hey, I'm right here," he said, walking up to her. "What's going on?"

She gestured to her stomach. "I think it's time," she said. "My water…it broke."

He nodded, "Yep, it's time." He got her bag from the front closet and drove to the hospital.

* * *

Ryan sat down in the living room, which had been turned into an office…sort of. Papers were scattered all over the table, most of which consisted of details on the house and papers from work. "I really need to organize this," he said as he looked at the mess. He shook his head and started to sort through the papers when the phone rang. He sighed and got up. "Hello?" His eyes widened as he listened to the person on the other line. "Well you're there, so why do I need to come? I mean she's having your baby," he said, annoyance eminent in his voice. "Yes, of course I'll tell them, Rob…no, like I said, she's having your baby; you should be the one who is with her. Listen, I have to go; Michael's crying…yes, I already told you I'd tell them…yes, call after she has the baby…yes…okay I have go now," he said as Michael's crying grew louder. "Okay, bye." He quickly hung up the phone and hurried to Michael's room. "What's wrong, buddy," he asked.

Michael was standing in his crib; he had gotten sick. "Daddy," he said through his sobs.

Ryan lifted the little boy out of his crib and got another pair of pajamas out and changed Michael. He then cleaned the crib, changed the sheets, and help Michael until he settled down. "Well you don't have a fever," he said as he felt his forehead. "Just not feeling great, huh," he said as he rubbed Michael's back. He sat down in the chair that was in his room and rocked him until Michael finally fell asleep. He placed him back into his crib, kissed his head, and took the dirty laundry to the washing machine.

"Daddy, what happened," a sleepy Theresa asked.

"Your brother wasn't feeling very well," he said as he put the detergent into the machine and turned it on. "Come on, you need to get back to bed," he said as he led her to her room.

"Who was on the phone," she asked as Ryan tucked her into bed.

He sighed, "That was Rob…mommy's having the baby," he said carefully.

Theresa frowned, "Now I know she's not going to love me or Michael," she said.

"That's not true," he said. "She will always love you guys. She is going to be spending some more time with the baby, but you know that she'll always love you."

"Whatever," she said as she rolled on to her side so she was no longer facing Ryan.

He kissed her goodnight and walked out of the room and back into the living room.

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**Okay yeah, that was a lot shorter than usual, but I'm considering it an introduction to the story. So what do you think so far? What do you think of Rob? I also wanted to show how much Ryan loves the kids and how much he does for them.:) Hope you liked it! Please review and thanks for reading!**


	2. And So It Begins

**Wow, thank you all for the reviews! I've never had 10 reviews for one chapter before. : ) Also, I'm glad you're not liking Rob very much…that's the intent here. Anyway, on with the chapter!**

**Disclaimer: I only own the characters I made up; everything else belongs to Disney.**

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_**New Beginnings, Ch. 2**_

Instead of waking up to an alarm beeping in his ears, Ryan woke up to the sound of the phone ringing. He slowly opened his eyes and looked outside; the sun was barely up. He looked at the clock which read 5:15. "Too early," he muttered as he reached for the phone. "Hello," he said groggily. "Hello Rob," he said with slight disgust in his voice. Why was he calling him so early? As he listened to what Rob was telling him, Ryan bolted up. "She did? Oh, well that's good…yeah I'll try to bring them by later…they have school today…no I am not going to make them miss school for this…Gabriella will still be in the hospital this afternoon, right…okay, so like I said, I'll bring them by this afternoon." Ryan rolled his eyes as Rob continued to talk. Didn't he realize that Ryan may have actually been sleeping? He looked at the door and saw a very sleepy Theresa standing there. He motioned for her to come over to him. "Yeah listen, I have to go…no, I just do…bye." He pushed the off button and placed the phone back on the hook and turned his attention to Theresa, who was now laying on the bed with her head on Ryan's shoulder and looking up at him. "Morning honey," he said as he turned to face her. "You're up kind of early," he said with a yawn.

"Who was on the phone?"

"Oh that was Rob," he said, seeing Theresa's sleepy face turn into a face of disgust.

She frowned, "What did he want?"

"Mommy had the baby."

She looked down at her hands, "Oh." She paused before continuing, "Boy or girl?"

"A girl; you have a new sister."

"Half sister," she corrected him.

He nodded, "Yes, okay; half sister. And no, I don't know her name. I don't think they came up with one yet," he said answering the question he knew she was about to ask.

"Oh." She got off the bed and walked to the door and out of the room and back to her own room.

Ryan watched as she did and could hear her crying softly as she returned to her room. He decided that since he had to get up in half an hour anyway that he'd just shut his alarm off and get up now. He walked into Theresa's room and saw her crying into her pillow. He sat on the bed and rubbed her back. "You know she still loves you…"

"No she doesn't! She loves her more," she said, referring to the baby.

He didn't respond with words; he simply picked her up and hugged her, letting her cry on his shoulder and continued to rub her back. "It'll be okay," he whispered a few moments later.

After Theresa had settled down and had fallen back to sleep, Ryan decided to check on Michael. He had been sick once more during the night, but then fell asleep. He walked into the room and looked at the sleeping 18 month old. He smiled, seeing just how many features he had inherited from him; for some reason, he didn't look much like Gabi; Theresa did, but Michael looked a lot like Ryan. He had dark blonde/light brown hair and blue eyes, like Ryan. He quietly walked out of the room, so to not wake the toddler up. He went into the kitchen and made some coffee and breakfast for himself.

"Hi daddy," Theresa said two hours later. She had gotten herself dressed and had her backpack with her.

"Good morning…again," he said with a smile. "So I'm going to be taking you and Michael to the hospital after school today," he said, deciding to just tell her now.

"Why? Are you sick?"

"No, but your mom wants to see you guys; she did just have the…"

"Baby," she finished for him, her face falling. "I don't want to go there."

He sighed and walked over to her, "Well mommy wants to see you and wants you to meet your new sis…half sister."

She rolled her eyes, "Fine." She sat down on the couch and turned on the TV and watched some cartoons.

Ryan took this time to go check on Michael. He walked into the room and saw Michael standing up in his crib with a smile on his face. "Well, I see you're feeling better," he said as he lifted him out. "Feel like going to school today," he asked. Michael nodded and smiled again. "Sounds good," he said as he found an outfit for him to wear. He changed his clothes (and diaper) and walked him out to where Theresa was. "Come on honey, you need to eat some breakfast," Ryan said as he put something together for her lunch.

"I'm not hungry," she said, still looking at the TV.

Ryan walked over and turned it off. "Well you need to eat something. At least have some orange juice," he said as he brought her a glass of juice.

"I'm not thirsty either." She pushed the glass away.

"Theresa," he said in a warning tone.

"I don't care if you take away my TV or anything else! I'm not hungry!" She stomped off to her room and slammed the door.

Ryan sighed and looked at Michael, "Girls, huh?" Michael laughed. "Yeah, I thought you'd like that," he said as he gave Michael something to eat and some milk in his sippy cup. He then walked to Theresa's room, "Theresa, out. Now."

She opened the door and pushed past Ryan and walked into the living room and sat down, arms crossed. "I don't want to go to the hospital."

"I know, but it would mean a lot to mommy," he said as he picked up her lunch and handed it to her. "Now come on, we're going to be late if we don't go now," he said as he wiped off Michael's mouth, which had crumbs all over it. He then searched for his keys, which seemed to have disappeared. "I know I put them right there," he said to himself. He stopped searching and looked at Theresa, "Keys, please."

She sighed and handed him his keys. "I still don't want to go."

"Too bad, you're going," he said as he picked Michael up along with his briefcase and walked Theresa out of the apartment and towards the car.

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**Same Time, Bolton Residence…**

Troy looked at his watch again. "Larissa, if you don't come down here by the time I count to 10, you're not going to like the consequences," he called to her from the stairs, Ana in one arm and Zachary in the other. Kayleigh was busy walking around ((they're 13 months old; some kids can walk at that age…these guys can, LOL)) and falling down and getting back up.

Sharpay walked over to Kayleigh, picked her up, and made her way over to Troy. "What's up?"

"Larissa is," he said, gesturing to the room with the closed door. "She is refusing to come down here," he said, getting slightly annoyed.

She sighed, "I'll get her." She walked up the stairs and opened the door and saw Larissa sitting on her bed, dressed and ready to go. "Larissa why haven't you come downstairs yet; you're going to be late for school again at this rate," Sharpay said firmly.

"I'm not going."

"Still don't want to see Miss Alison again," she asked, sitting down on the bed.

She shook her head, "Nope and I'm not going to either." She crossed her arms.

"Well we'll just see about that." Sharpay walked back downstairs, set Kayleigh down, walked back up, and picked Larissa up and carried her down. "You're going; end of discussion," she said once she brought her out to the car.

"But I don't want to! She hates me, remember?" She protested as Sharpay buckled her in.

"She doesn't hate you; she just…we need to go. End of story." She closed the door and waited for Troy to bring Ana out. She took Larissa and Ana to school, since the elementary school and Ana's preschool were both on her way to work and Troy took the twins to preschool since it was on his way to work.

"Sorry," he said as he brought the twins, followed by Ana outside. "Couldn't find our lunch," he said, looking at Ana.

"Ah, okay. Well I see that you have it now, so let's go," she said as she picked Ana up and placed her in the car. "And I'll see you guys later." She kissed their foreheads. "Love you," she said as she kissed Troy.

"Love you more," he said as he kissed her back.

Sharpay smiled and got into the car and backed out of the driveway and drove the kids to school.

* * *

"Theresa, get out of the car now," Ryan said for the third time.

"I'm not going," she said as she stayed in her seat in the car.

Ryan finally decided that he had to pick her up (something she hated him doing especially when at school) and take her to her classroom. "Come on," he said as he carried her inside. Once there, he set her down. "Now I'm going to come and get you at 3:15 today; I know you don't want to go, you are going to go see your mom. You don't have to stay for very long, but we're not going to argue about it any longer," he said calmly.

"Fine I'll go, but I am not going to say hello to the baby or to Rob," she said, standing her ground.

"Whatever, just as long as you say hello to your mom," he said as he kissed her head. "I love you." He hugged her and left for work.

* * *

As if like clockwork, when 3:15 rolled around, Ryan drove up to the school and saw Theresa sitting on the steps waiting for him. He got out of the car and took her backpack so she could walk down the steps easier. "Let's go," he said once she was in the car.

She looked over at Michael, who had no clue where they were going. "We're going to see mommy," she said.

Michael frowned, "No. Home."

"We'll go home after you see mommy," Ryan said as he drove into the hospital parking lot. Once he found a space, he got the two out of the car and brought them inside. Since he had been to the same hospital several times before; to the same floor in fact, he knew exactly where to go. "I'm looking for Gabriella Montez's room," he said, knowing she had dropped the Evans from her name.

"Room 426," the receptionist said.

"Thank you," he said as he walked back over to the kids, "Come on." They got to room 426 where Ryan literally had to push Theresa into the room. There he saw Gabi lying on a bed, Rob by her side, and a baby who looked a lot like Gabriella in her arms. "Hello," he said awkwardly.

Gabi looked up and saw the kids, "Hi guys!" She smiled at them and motioned for them to come into the room. "I'm so glad you could come; even if it is 4:00," she said with gritted teeth towards Ryan.

"I already told Rob here that I wasn't going to pull them out of school, Gabi."

She ignored him, "So, I…we want you to meet someone," she said to the kids, who kept their distance. "This," she said as she held the baby up, "Is Angela Grace Darin," she said.

Theresa looked suspicious. "Who's Darin," she asked.

"That's my last name," Rob interjected.

"Oh," Theresa said as she slowly inched forward to look at the baby.

"She's not going to bite," Rob said with a smirk.

"Well duh, she has no teeth," Theresa retorted.

"That was uncalled for Theresa," Rob said firmly.

Ryan wanted to jump in and kick Rob, but kept his cool and held back.

"No baby," Michael said, frowning.

"Honey, I know you are not too happy about having another sister, but…"

"Half sister," Theresa interrupted.

"Do you need to leave the room, young lady," Rob asked, looking pointedly at her.

Gabi looked at him, "It's all right, this is new to her," she said quietly. "Anyway Michael, I think that over time, you'll grow to like her more and more…you're a big brother now," she said with a smile.

Michael's facial expression didn't change. "No baby," he said again, this time running to Ryan.

Gabi looked up at Ryan, "You turned them against me, haven't you?"

He looked shocked, "What? Gabi, I wouldn't do that," he said. "They're just still rather sensitive to the fact that you had a baby with…someone else," he said calmly.

Rob glared at Ryan, "What exactly did you say to them then," he asked.

Ryan walked further into the room. "All I said was that mommy had the baby and that they were going to come and see you and the baby after school today." He shrugged, "That's all."

"I don't like her," Theresa said as she took her father's hand.

"Theresa, that's not fair; you don't even know her," Gabi said firmly. "She doesn't know you yet either, but in time you will get to know her."

"Not if he has his way," she muttered under her breath.

"What was that," Rob asked, looking at her.

She gulped loudly, "Uh…nothing," she stammered. "Maybe after she's bigger or something," she said.

Rob nodded, "Good answer."

Ryan really wanted to kick Rob now; actually he wanted to hit him over the head with a sharp object. "Okay well this has been a nice visit, but Theresa has homework and Michael needs a diaper change," he said. "So the kids will see you on Saturday…if you're going to be home by then."

Gabi nodded, "I'm being released on Thursday, so yes I'll be home," she said.

"Okay then. They'll see you all on Saturday," Ryan said. "Congratulations, Gabi…and I do mean that," Ryan said.

"Thanks." She the looked at the kids, "Hey, can I at least have a hug goodbye?"

Michael looked at Ryan who nodded and walked over to her and hugged Gabi, "Bye-bye mommy."

"Bye sweetie," she said as she kissed his forehead. "Theresa?"

Theresa slowly walked towards Gabriella, watching as Rob eyed her the entire time. "Bye, mommy," she said quietly and hugged her.

"Bye sweetheart; I'll see you soon, okay?"

Theresa nodded, "Okay." She walked back to Ryan and held his hand. They said their final goodbyes and walked back into the hall and to the elevator. "Can we go home now," Theresa asked.

"Yes, now we can go," Ryan said, still wanting to pound Rob.

* * *

"I hungwy," Michael said as the three entered the apartment.

Ryan chuckled, "Good because I was just going to tell you two that I am going to start dinner soon. Theresa why don't you start on your homework, okay?" He looked over at her, "Theresa?"

She looked up at him, "Hmm? Oh homework, yeah." She picked up her backpack and walked into her room. Once in there, she crawled up on to her bed and started to softly cry. Rob really did hate her. She didn't want to go to her mom's house on Saturday.

"Theresa," Ryan said as he walked into her room. He sat down on the bed as she moved over to him and sat in his lap.

"He hates me, daddy," she said through her tears.

He sighed, "Well, it's only for two days and maybe, just maybe you'll be able to spend those days with mainly mommy, all right?"

She nodded, "But what if he comes into the room?"

"Then just stay by your mom. Tell her that you want to help with the baby; maybe that'll make him ease up on you a bit…after all, he could be nervous about the baby," he said, not believing what he just said. Was he actually defending the guy? "In any case, just make sure that you're on your best behavior."

"Okay. But I still don't want to go." She buried her face in his shirt.

He rubbed her back, "I know, but it'll be okay," he said as he continued to rub her back. Would everything be okay?

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**So, if you didn't hate Rob before, how do you feel about him now, LOL? And yes, I have left you with yet another cliffhanger. What do you think will/should happen on the weekend? Please give me your opinions, ideas, general reviews of the chapter…all that jazz! Thanks for reading!**


	3. To Tell or Not to Tell

**All right, since many of you want the story to continue, it shall continue! I'm using a lot of the ideas/suggestions you guys gave me, so thank you so very much for those! Seriously, I was starting to get writer's block (so not fun!) and you guys gave me a few ideas. Anyway, enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: Same as always!**

**A/N: I'm warning you now: if you don't like to read about abuse or anything like that, turn back now… **

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_**New Beginnings, Ch. 3**_

**Saturday Afternoon…**

Ryan and Gabi had decided that since she was coming home from the hospital that morning and would need some time to get things settled in, especially with the baby, that Ryan would bring Theresa and Michael over that afternoon.

"Okay do you have everything," Ryan asked Theresa as he saw her bring her little suitcase out into the living room.

She shrugged, "I guess so." She was still not very keen on the idea of seeing Rob again.

"Hey, it'll be all right," he said, hugging her.

"I ready, daddy," Michael said as he dragged his small suitcase into the living room.

"I can see that," Ryan said, suppressing a laugh at the sight; there was clothing hanging out of the suitcase and Michael's teddy bear was half in and half out of the suitcase. "Here, why don't we do some modifying with that packing," he said as he opened the suitcase and helped Michael to organize his things.

Michael smiled, "Now I weally weady!" Michael had actually warmed up to Gabi while she was in the hospital; he still didn't like the idea of her having another baby, but he could see…in his 18 month old eyes that she really did still love him.

"Okay, let's go," Ryan said, picking up Michael and his suitcase. Theresa followed close behind as they walked out of the apartment and out to the car. Ryan placed both kids in the car and then the suitcases in the trunk. He then got into the car and drove to Gabi's house.

"Do I have to go," Theresa asked once they arrived.

Ryan sighed, "For the fifth time, yes you have to go." He got out of the car and helped her and Michael out and got their suitcases from the trunk. They walked to the door and rang the bell.

They could hear very fast moving footsteps coming towards the door. Gabi opened it, "Shh! She's asleep," she said almost frantically.

"Sorry," Ryan said as he helped the kids into the house.

She waved it off, "Don't worry about it. So who is ready to have a great weekend," she said to Theresa and Michael with a smile.

Michael smiled, "Me, mommy."

Theresa simply looked around the house, seeing several new items of furniture that had to be for the baby's room. Ryan nudged her, "I guess I am," she said, snapping back to reality. She soon tensed up when she saw Rob walk into the foyer.

"Hello," he said pleasantly. He smiled at the kids; Michael, being so young, smiled back, but Theresa, being a wise 7 year old just looked at him skeptically. Rob saw this look. "Well, we're going to have a great weekend," he said, eyeing Theresa.

She grabbed on to Ryan. "O-Okay," she said nervously.

Ryan knelt down and gave her and then Michael a hug. "I guess this is my cue to go," he said, still hugging them.

"Don't go, daddy," Theresa said quietly.

He kissed her head, "Everything will be fine." Before Theresa could protest, he got up and blew them kisses and walked out the door.

Right as he left, Angela started to cry. "I'll go check on her," Gabi said. She looked down at Michael who had a frown on his face. "Would you like to help me?"

He nodded and smiled. "Okay!"

She smiled and picked him up and walked up the stairs, leaving only Rob and Theresa in the foyer.

"Um, I think I'm going to put my stuff in my room," she said after an awkward silence.

As she started for the stairs, she could feel Rob's hand on her arm, stopping her. "Don't even think about making your mother upset again, do you understand," he said, grabbing her arm tighter.

She flinched as she felt his hand tighten around her, "I-I won't," she said softly. "I just want to put my stuff away."

"You go do that then," he said, letting go of her arm.

She eyed him for a moment before jetting up the stairs to her room.

* * *

"Theresa, come downstairs for dinner," she heard Gabi call.

Theresa rose from her bed, where she had taken a nap all afternoon and slowly walked downstairs. "Hi mommy," she said once there.

Gabi smiled, "Did you have a good nap?"

She nodded, "Yes." She looked over at the baby who was asleep in her basinet. She walked over to her, "Hi Angela," she said softly. She then walked over to the table and sat in her chair next to Michael.

"Well I hope you're hungry," Gabi said. "Rob cooked dinner tonight and it looks great," she said, giving him a kiss. Theresa turned away and looked at Angela.

Theresa just looked at it for a moment, "What is it?"

"It's chicken parmesan," Rob said. Theresa made a face. "I thought you liked it," he said, looking at her pointedly.

Theresa looked over at Gabi who was playing some finger game with Michael. "Um I do…I just always have it in restaurants," she said, hoping he'd buy it.

He nodded, "I see."

"Honey, you have barely touched your dinner," Gabi said to Theresa halfway through the meal.

She shook her head, "I'm not very hungry. Can I please be excused?"

Gabi tilted her head, "Are you feeling all right? Does your tummy hurt?"

"No, I'm just not very hungry."

"Well then I guess no dessert," Rob said as Theresa got up.

"That's okay," she said as she walked to the stairs. Once there, she bolted up them and into her room.

She heard knocking at her door a few minutes later. Rob came in and stood at the foot of her bed, "So, now my cooking isn't good enough for the little princess," he said as he walked around to the side of the bed.

"N-No, it's j-just I wasn't h-hungry," she said, inching away from him.

"I'm not buying that," he said as he took his hand and slapped her across the face. She winced in pain. "You will never, ever insult me again, especially in front of your mother; is that understood?" He was now practically hovering over her.

She nodded, unable to let any words come out.

"Good," he said as he stood back up and walked out of the room. "Now get changed into your pajamas."

"But it's only 6:30," she said as she regretted letting the words leave her mouth.

"I gave you an order, young lady. You are to listen to that." He took her arm and pushed her off her bed so she fell to the floor. "Now change into your pajamas." She was about to get up when he turned around. "Oh, and don't tell your mom or dad about this," he hissed. "You don't want to know what the consequences will be."

She nodded and waited until he left the room to get up. She pulled her sleeve up and could see a bruise forming. "Daddy I need you," she cried softly as she walked to her dresser and picked out a pair of pajamas and changed into them.

* * *

Late that night, Theresa got up to go to the bathroom. As she walked towards it, the floorboards creaked underneath her. Angela decided to wake up at that moment, causing Theresa to freeze where she was. She saw the light from her mom's room turn on and tried to escape into the bathroom which was only a few steps away, but was stopped.

"What are you doing up so late," Gabi asked.

"I have to go to the bathroom," she said.

Gabi nodded, "Okay, go ahead." She then quickly walked into Angela's room, Rob close behind.

Theresa breathed a sigh of relief that only lasted for a few seconds when she felt another hand touch her shoulder.

"So now you decide to wake up your little sister, is that it?" Rob glared at her and slapped her in the same spot he had earlier that evening.

"I just had to go to the bathroom," she said as tears started to fall down her cheeks. "I didn't know she would wake up."

"You just want to give your mother hell for having another baby. That's it, isn't it?" He looked at her with venom in his eyes.

She shook her head, "No! I just had to go to the bathroom. I'm sorry for accidentally waking Angela; I didn't mean to."

He glared at her again and pushed her into the bathroom. "Well? I thought you said you had to go," he said as he walked to Angela's room.

Theresa poked her head out and could hear her mom and Rob talking happily to each other and to Angela. She closed the door to the bathroom and cried silently, glad that the next day was Sunday. Ryan would come get her and Michael at 1:00; that was what he and Gabi had agreed upon. After finishing up in the bathroom, she tiptoed back to her room and got back into bed.

* * *

**Sunday Morning…**

Gabi yawned as she came down the stairs, only to see Theresa already up. "Wow, I didn't you'd be up so early," she said, yawning again.

"I didn't sleep well last night," she said, looking at the ground.

"Yeah well I don't think that anyone did. Angela has a very good set of lungs on her, doesn't she," she said as she patted Theresa's back, to which Theresa winced in pain, since that was where she fell when Rob had pushed her to the ground. "Are you okay?"

"I slept funny," she said quickly as she saw Rob join them in the kitchen.

He looked at Theresa and then at Gabi and smiled, "So how are two of my favorite girls?"

"Doing just fine, thanks," Gabi said as she kissed him.

Rob looked at Theresa. "How about you," he asked, sounding as if he meant it.

She shrugged, "Not good. Angela cried a lot." She looked up at Rob who was once again glaring at her.

"Well she is a baby," he said, still glaring at her, careful so that Gabi couldn't see his facial expression.

"She still kept me up," Theresa said. She looked over at her mom, "I'm going to get dressed." She started to get up.

"Wait, what about breakfast," Gabi asked. "I'm going to make your favorite: blueberry pancakes," she said with a smile.

Theresa shook her head, "No, I'm not hungry mommy." She made her way to the stairs before Rob stopped her.

"You really are a piece of work," he said as he grabbed her arm. "Your mother was very kind to you back there and all you could do was act like the selfish little brat that you are."

"That…hurts," she said, trying to free herself from his grip.

He released her, causing her to fall down and hit her head on the stairs. "Maybe that'll teach you," he said as he walked away.

She ran up the stairs and closed her door. She looked at the clock: 7:30. Not much longer until her dad would get there.

* * *

At almost 1:00 on the nose, the doorbell rang. Theresa sprinted down the stairs and opened the door and saw Ryan. She smiled and hugged him tighter than she ever had before.

"Well hello to you too," he said, hugging her back. "Did you have a nice time?"

She was about to tell him what happened when Rob came to the door, "Hello Ryan. Come on in; Michael is almost ready," he said, giving Theresa a look.

"Thanks," Ryan said. He looked at Theresa who was still clinging to him. "Um honey? Is everything all right?"

She thought about what Rob said the night before. "Yes…I just missed you," she said as Rob and Michael came into the room.

"Daddy!" Michael ran over to Ryan and hugged him as well, only not as tightly.

"Hey buddy." He smiled and hugged him back. He was glad to see that Michael seemed to finally be warming up to Gabi. "So," he said to the kids, "Guess where you get to go for dinner."

Theresa shrugged, "Home?"

"Nope; better. You and Michael are going to your aunt and uncle's house." He saw the look on Theresa's face. "I have to go into the office for a while; something happened yesterday night and I need to check to see what's going on."

She nodded, "Okay." She then looked at Theresa, "Bye mommy."

"Bye sweetie. It was great having you here," she said as she hugged her daughter. She then hugged Michael goodbye. "See you next Wednesday," she called as the three walked outside.

"Oh great," Theresa muttered under her breath.

* * *

"Thank you so much for having them over," Ryan said as he dropped the kids off at Troy and Sharpay's house.

"You know that they're always welcome here," Sharpay said as she hugged Ryan. "Now go to the office before the others have a meltdown of their own," she said with a giggle.

"Right." He hugged the kids and left.

"So, what do you want to do first," Sharpay asked once the kids were inside. She looked at Michael, "Would you like to go play with Zachary? He has a new toy that I'm sure you'd like."

He nodded, "Okay!"

"Okay then, let's go." She walked him to the family room where Zachary was playing. "Hey buddy look who's here," she said with a smile.

Zachary smiled and tried to talk, but it came out as gibberish, since he didn't have any real words yet. Michael smiled back and walked over to him.

Sharpay noticed that Theresa was still in the foyer. She walked over to her, "Honey are you all right?"

Theresa nodded, "I'm fine," she said almost inaudibly.

Sharpay frowned and took her hand and led her into the living room. "You don't look fine. What's wrong?"

"Nothing, I just don't feel well," she said, looking at the ground.

Sharpay nodded, "We know all about that around here," she said with a small smile as she put her hand on Theresa's arm.

"Ouch!" She yelled, jumping up.

"What? What's wrong?" Sharpay looked rather worried.

"Uh…nothing," Theresa said, covering up her arm.

Sharpay nodded, "Mmm-hmm. So what's with the arm," she asked as she moved Theresa's hand away so she could roll up her sleeve. She gasped when she saw the rather large bruise. "Honey what happened!"

"I fell," Theresa said quickly.

"Are you sure that's all it is," Sharpay asked wearily.

"Yes, I'm sure," she said as she got up and walked up the stairs to Larissa's room.

Sharpay just stood there, dumbfounded. _How could she fall and end up with a bruise that looked like_ that, she thought to herself.

Troy walked into the room, "Everything all right?"

She shook her head, "I don't think so."

* * *

**Okay you probably are now turning back and no longer reading, LOL. But if you're reading this, what did you think? What will Troy and Sharpay do? Or the better question is: should Theresa tell them what happened? Please send in suggestions, thoughts, ideas, opinions, all those things! And as always, thanks for reading!**


	4. Make It Stop!

**Thank you for the reviews! I thought for sure that you would all hate me after that chapter. ;-) Anyway, here's the next chapter.**

**Disclaimer: I only own the characters I made up; everything else belongs to Disney.**

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_**New Beginnings, Ch. 4**_

Sharpay walked into Larissa's room and saw her playing quietly with Theresa. "Hi girls," she said, startling the two.

"Hi mommy," Larissa said, not looking up from the puzzle she and Theresa were working on.

"Theresa, I was wondering if I could talk to you for a minute," she said gently.

"Okay," Theresa said cautiously. She handed Larissa a puzzle piece, "This one goes in the corner," she said before getting up and going with her aunt.

Sharpay walked Theresa down to the living room where Troy was sitting. "Have a seat," Sharpay said, patting the seat next to her.

Theresa sat down and looked at Troy and Sharpay. "What did you need to talk to me about?"

Sharpay took a deep breath, "Well it's about that bruise of yours that I saw earlier."

She shrugged, "What about it? I fell down and hurt my arm," she said looking at the floor. She was swinging her legs back and forth and accidentally kicked Troy's foot.

"Ouch!" He exclaimed, causing Theresa to literally jump up and run to the other side of the room.

"I'm so sorry Uncle Troy! I-I didn't mean to! Please don't hurt me," she sobbed as she hid her head and sat in a fetal position.

He stood up and walked over to her, "It's okay sweetie, I know it was an accident." He paused and looked at Sharpay and back at Theresa, "What made you think I was going to hurt you?"

She looked up. She knew they suspected something; Rob was going to kill her. "No reason really," she said shakily.

Troy picked the little girl up and brought her back to the couch. "Honey I promise, no one here is going to hurt you; but you have got to tell us why you thought I was going to hurt you and how you got that bruise." He rubbed her back, causing her to jump up again.

"Ouch!" She ran to the wall and placed her back against it.

Sharpay gave her a strange look. "Theresa, please come back over here."

She shook her head, terror eminent in her eyes. "No," she said so quietly that the only way Troy and Sharpay knew what she said was the shape of her mouth when she said 'no.'

Sharpay walked over to her and picked her up and turned her around. She lifted her shirt up and looked at her back. "Oh my…" She cupped her hand over her mouth. "Who is doing this to you, Theresa," she asked as she put her shirt back down.

"No one; I-I am just a klutz. I fall a lot." She wasn't about to spill the beans on Rob, considering what he was going to do to her if he found out anyone knew what he was doing to her.

Troy sighed, knowing they weren't going to get any answers this way. An idea suddenly struck him. "Maybe we should call your mom and ask her how you fell down so many times," he said as he slowly started to walk towards the phone.

"No! You can't! I mean Angela is probably sleeping," she said.

"I'm willing to take that risk." He picked up the phone.

"Please don't, Rob will kill me," she begged, realizing what she had just said. Now she knew that he really _would _kill her.

"Rob? He did this to you?" Sharpay walked over to Theresa who was now trembling with fear. "Honey, please tell us," she said as she knelt down to her height.

No longer able to hide the truth, Theresa just nodded, "Yes," she said hoarsely. She looked up at Sharpay, "Please don't let him kill me!" She wrapped her arms around Sharpay, who had a shocked look on her face.

"What do you mean 'please don't let him kill me?' Did he threaten you, Theresa?"

Troy, who had set the phone down when he heard the truth, walked over to Theresa as well and gently rubbed her back.

"He…he said that if I told anyone about what happened that he would hurt me again," she said, still trembling. "Aunt Sharpay I don't feel so good."

Sharpay rushed her to the bathroom where Theresa threw up. She rubbed her back and held back her tears as best she could. "Do you feel a little better now," she asked once she was finished. "And I don't just mean your tummy."

She nodded, "A little bit." She started to cry, "I didn't mean to get sick. Please don't tell my mommy. She'll tell Rob and he'll get mad at me again," she said as she turned her head to the toilet and got sick again.

"No, we won't tell her," Troy said.

"What? We have to," Sharpay said, looking pointedly at Troy.

"No I mean I think we should tell Ryan first."

Theresa looked up, "Daddy will be mad too," she said as she coughed.

Sharpay shook her head, "No honey, he won't. I know my brother all too well. He isn't going to hurt anyone…except maybe Rob, but he would never hurt you." She bent down and wiped Theresa's face off and hugged her. "Honey please believe me when I tell you that. He would never, ever hurt you."

Theresa nodded, "Okay."

Sharpay sighed, "Well, I'm guessing you're not going to be very hungry for dinner, so why don't you just lie down for a while? It looks like you didn't get much sleep last night," she said, observing the dark circles under Theresa's eyes.

"Okay."

Sharpay walked her up to the guest room and had her lay down. "Just come downstairs when you feel like waking up; or we'll come get you if your dad comes before you wake up." She looked at Theresa and saw that she was already asleep. "Sweet dreams," she said as she kissed her forehead and closed the door most of the way. She walked back downstairs where Troy was. "She's asleep."

He nodded, "Good. So, what are we going to do now?"

"When Ryan comes to pick her and Michael up, we'll see if she can tell him. If not, then we'll tell him. I mean, someone has to. If we don't…I don't even want to think about what'll happen if we don't tell him." She leaned into him and sighed. "Why do people do this, Troy?"

He shook his head, "I don't know."

* * *

A few hours later, the doorbell rang. Sharpay, who was drying some dishes from dinner, came to the door. "Hey Ryan," she said to her brother as she let him in.

He yawned, "Hi; I'm sorry that took so long, but I work with a bunch of idiots."

She shook her head, "No worries, everything was just fine," she said.

"Good. So um, where are they?" He looked around and didn't see them.

"Oh, they're downstairs with Troy watching 'Mulan' or 'The Lion King.' One of those animated movies." She smiled and led him to the basement. "Look who's here," she said to Michael.

He turned around, "Daddy!" He ran over to Ryan and hugged him.

"Hey buddy," he said as he picked him up. "Where's Theresa?"

"Yeah um about her…we have to talk," she said, motioning for Troy to get up.

"What? Is she all right? I mean, she didn't cause too much trouble, did she?"

"No, no, it isn't anything like that," Sharpay said, her voice becoming a whisper as they reached the upstairs hall. She walked into the darkened guest room and gently woke Theresa up. "Daddy's here," she said quietly.

Theresa rubbed her eyes and looked over at Ryan. She smiled and got up and hugged him, "Hi daddy."

"Hi sweetheart," he said as he hugged her back. "How long were you asleep?"

"Um…" She looked to Troy for help.

"She fell asleep before dinner," he said. "She mentioned to us that she didn't get much sleep last night."

Ryan nodded, "I see. Well are you ready to go home?"

"Actually Ryan, we need to talk," Sharpay said, looking from Ryan to Theresa who was now staring at her feet.

He looked concerned, "Talk about what?"

"You know what? Before we do, why don't we let Michael go watch some more of the movie with his cousins," Troy said, gesturing for Sharpay to start talking. He took Michael from Ryan's arms and brought him downstairs.

"Okay, what's going on," Ryan asked, sitting down on the bed, Theresa in his lap.

Sharpay sat down next to him. "Something happened yesterday while Theresa was at Gabi's house." She looked at Theresa who was still looking at her feet. "Theresa?"

"He'll get mad," she said, forgetting that her dad was right there.

"Get mad about what," Ryan asked.

"Nothing," she said quickly. She reached down to tie her shoe when her sleeve went up a little, revealing just the bottom part of the large bruise on her arm.

Ryan saw this, "Whoa, Theresa how did you get this?" He lifted her sleeve up the rest of the way. "What happened?"

"You'll just get mad," she said, beginning to cry.

"No honey, I won't."

Sharpay gave her that 'I told you so' look. "See? Just tell him."

Ryan sighed, "Tell me what!" He said a little too loudly for Theresa, who ran from his lap and to the other side of the bed. "Theresa?"

"Please don't hurt me daddy!"

He frowned and looked at Sharpay who just motioned for him to go bring her around to where they were. He walked to the other side of the bed, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to yell like that," he said, placing a hand on her back.

"Ouch!" She ran over to Sharpay.

Ryan hurried over to Theresa, "Honey what is going on?" He lifted her shirt up. "What the…" He looked at her, "Honey who did this to you? And don't tell me that you fell down because that is not the kind of bruise you would get from that."

She took a deep breath, tried to talk, and ended up running out of the room and to the bathroom.

"Not again," Sharpay said, following her with Ryan in tow.

Ryan knelt down by Theresa, who was sick again. He looked up at Sharpay, "Shar, what's going on here?"

She took his hand and led him back to the guest room. "Since Theresa keeps dodging the answer, I'll just tell you. You're right; she didn't fall down, someone hurt her."

"What? Who?"

"Come on Ryan, who do you think?"

He thought for a moment, "Wait…no he wouldn't…would he?"

"If by 'he' you mean Rob, then yes, he would and he did."

"I told you he hated me," Theresa said as she walked back into the room.

Ryan pulled her up on to his lap and hugged her, making sure to not touch her bruises. "Oh sweetie, I'm so sorry," he said.

Theresa decided that it was now okay to let the waiting tears fall down her face. "I'm sorry daddy," she cried.

"For what? You didn't do anything wrong," he said, still hugging her. "All I know is your mom and I are going to have a very long talk."

* * *

"What! Ryan that is the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard," Gabi said.

"It's also true," he said. "Have you seen her arms and her back?"

She closed the door behind her so that they were outside alone. "Ryan, I don't believe you. Rob would never harm a hair on Theresa's head! Let alone her arms and back. If anything, I would think that you were the one hurting her."

"Oh please Gabi, that is absolute ludicrous!"

"Yeah, well so is your claim that Rob is hurting her. Now just leave before I decide to go to the judge and get a restraining order," she said as she walked back into the house, leaving a dumbfounded Ryan.

"Is everything all right," Rob asked once Gabi was back inside.

She rolled her eyes, "He actually thinks that you're the one who hurt Theresa."

His eyes narrowed towards the stairs. "He did, did he?"

"Yes, and it's the dumbest thing I have ever heard," she said as she went to tend to Angela.

He nodded, "Yeah." He walked upstairs and into Theresa's room. She was sitting at her desk doing her homework. "What did I tell you about saying anything to anyone," he said as he closed the door behind him.

She jumped about a mile in the air when he spoke. She looked down at the ground, knowing something was going to happen. Before she knew it, she felt his hand on her back. She cringed in pain as he hit her at least three times on her back. "Go away!" She yelled as she ran to her bed.

"I told you not to tell anyone, didn't I," he said as he walked over to her bed and slapped her across the face.

"Mommy!" She yelled.

"Oh please, if she didn't believe your dad, she's not going to believe you," he said with a sneer. He walked out of the room, leaving a now extremely scared Theresa.

She quietly opened the door and snuck across the hall and grabbed the phone and ran back to her room and hid under her desk as she dialed her dad's cell phone number, which she had on a piece of paper.

"Hello," Ryan answered, trying to drive and talk at the same time.

"Daddy," Theresa cried into the phone. "He hurt me bad."

He quickly pulled over to the side of the road and put the car in park. "He didn't."

"Yes he did…he hit me on my back hard and then on my face…and he hurt my arm again," she cried.

"I'm on my way over…just stay in your room, all right?"

"Okay," she said weakly. She hung up the phone and could feel her lunch starting to come back up. She ran to the bathroom.

Ryan put the car back into drive and turned around and prayed that he didn't get a speeding ticket for how fast he was driving.

Rob was walking up the stairs when he heard something coming from the bathroom. He walked in and saw Theresa. "Your mom just finished cleaning up in here and you just had to go mess it up again," he growled as he grabbed her already sore arm (she was done getting sick) and pulled her out of the bathroom and nearly threw her into her room. "Don't let me see you doing that again…ever," he said in a threatening manner.

Theresa just sat on the floor emotionless.

While on his way, Ryan took out his cell phone and called one other person….

* * *

**Just so you know, I think I made myself cry as I wrote this; and the sad part about all of this is, is that this happens to thousands of kids daily. :'( Please tell me what you thought; and who do you think Ryan is calling on the phone? Thanks for reading!**


	5. How To Stop It

**Hi all, here is the next chapter! I hope you like it; I am going with a couple of ideas some people gave me and am meshing them together. **

**Disclaimer: Same as always!**

**A/N: Okay, in the previous chapter, Ryan was telling Gabi about Rob and how he has been hitting Theresa. Well, I'm sort of speeding up time and saying that when he was there, he hadn't just dropped the kids off; he wanted to talk to her so he came over about an hour later (hence the reason Theresa was in her room doing homework already) to talk to her. **

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_**New Beginnings, Ch. 5**_

Ryan took out his cell phone and dialed his lawyer's cell phone number. He explained what was happening, and even though he didn't have any solid proof, his daughter was all the proof that _he _(Ryan) needed to get the court's attention. He told his lawyer that he would explain the details to him tomorrow, since he had to go and pick Michael and Theresa up right now. He hung up and continued driving.

Theresa, in the meantime, just sat in her room, her face stained with tears. Gabi walked up the steps with Michael in her arms. She saw Theresa sitting on the floor of her room and walked over to her, "Theresa? Honey what's the matter," she asked.

Fresh tears fell down her face as Theresa stood up, only to fall back down on her back from being so dizzy due to the newly inflicted hits, compliments of Rob. "Mommy," she said weakly.

Gabi rushed over to her and helped her up, "Are you okay?" She looked at her back and saw the bruises. "That was some fall," she said, examining the bruises. Gabi grew skeptical, "You _did _only fall, right?"

Theresa looked up and saw Rob standing in the hall, not too far from her room, "Yes, I fell…I fell earlier too," she said.

"When was that," she asked, still examining the bruises.

"She was sick about 10 minutes ago and fell as she was leaving the bathroom," Rob said, eyeing Theresa.

Gabi turned back to Theresa, "You got sick? Why didn't you say anything?" Theresa shrugged, "Well I'm going to get some ice for those bruises. Want to come with me, Michael," she asked him as he watched Gabi stand up.

"Okay," he said, lifting his arms in the air for her to pick him up.

"We'll be right back, honey," she said as she kissed her head and left the room with Michael.

Rob walked into the room, "Smart girl," he said with a sneer.

Theresa didn't say anything; she simply stayed where she was and waited for Gabi to return.

"This should do it," Gabi said as she found an ice pack in the freezer. She then heard the doorbell ring. "Come on honey, I think that's your daddy," she said to Michael as she grabbed the ice pack and headed for the front door, Michael running in front of her.

"Daddy!" Michael exclaimed when Gabi opened the door.

"Hi buddy," Ryan said as he picked up the little boy. "How was this afternoon?"

"Okay…Twisa sad."

Ryan looked at Gabi and saw the ice pack. "Where is she?"

"Her room; she had a bad fall and…" She was cut off by Ryan, who ran up the stairs to Theresa's room.

When he got up to her room, he saw Rob standing in the doorway. He shoved past him and set Michael down. "Theresa, are you all right?" He scooped her up into his arms.

"Daddy!" She cried, clinging on to him for dear life.

"Shh, it's okay, I'm here now." He rubbed her back softly, knowing that it was very sore.

"Ryan wait, she needs this," Gabi said, handing him the ice pack.

"What does she need this for?" He looked over at Rob, "Now what did you do to her?"

Gabi rolled her eyes, "No you idiot, she was about to stand up and walk over to me when I asked her if she was okay and she fell on to her back."

Ryan looked at Theresa, "Is that true?" She simply nodded. "She was probably dizzy from all the blows to the back Rob gave her," he said in an accusatory tone.

"For goodness sakes Ryan, she was sick earlier and probably got dizzy from being sick; you know that feeling right after you get sick," she said.

He sighed, "Whatever. I'm not buying it. Expect a call from my lawyer sometime tomorrow," he said as he walked to the stairs with Michael in tow. Theresa was still in Ryan's arms.

"What! Ryan, what are you talking about," Gabi asked, following him.

He got to the door and turned around. "Like I said, I'm not buying the whole 'she fell down and got dizzy' excuse." He turned back around and opened the door and walked out to the car, setting Theresa into the car first and then placing Michael in his car seat.

"Ryan, wait," Gabi said, walking over to Ryan before he got into the car.

"What?"

She shook her head, "Never mind…Okay, not never mind. Rob would never touch a hair on Theresa's head. He loves her like a daughter!"

"Yeah, you just keep telling yourself that," he said as he got into the car and started it. "Expect that call," he said as he pulled out of the driveway and got onto the main street and drove home.

Once there, he somehow managed to carry both kids upstairs (Michael had fallen asleep in the car and he didn't want to wake him up). He placed Theresa on the living room couch and Michael in his crib. He then walked back out to the living room where he saw Theresa crying again.

She looked up at him, "It hurts, daddy."

"What does; your back," he asked, walking over to her and lifting up her shirt. "Holy…"

* * *

Sharpay was in the family room grading papers while Larissa and Ana were watching the movie 'Madeline.' Troy walked into the room after putting the twins to bed and sat on the couch next to Larissa.

Sharpay suddenly stood up, "Something is not right," she said.

Troy looked over at her, "Wow, you really have watched this movie a lot," he said with a laugh. His expression changed when he saw the serious look on Sharpay's face. He got up and walked over to her. "What's wrong?"

She looked at him, "Something is very wrong, Troy; I can feel it."

"What do you mean? You're not having those cramps again, are you?"

Over the past few months, Sharpay had begun to have horrible cramps during and after her "friend of the month" paid a visit. She hadn't thought anything of it at first, but after a lot of pushing from Troy and her father, she finally gave in and went to see her doctor. She told her that she had a condition that had been caused by her last pregnancy. The doctor told her that she wasn't in any danger, but that she may want to consider having a hysterectomy. **(A/N: For those who may not know what that is, it's when a woman has surgery to remove the reproduction organs…sometimes they have one when they have uterine cancer…don't worry, Sharpay doesn't have cancer!)**

"No, it's not that," she said as she sat back down. "I just think that something is very wrong with Ryan," she said worriedly.

He nodded, "Well I'm sure that whatever it is, he will be able to handle…"

She shot him a look, "Troy he is my brother! He might need help and-"

"No, I didn't mean it like that; what I meant was he will probably be able to handle whatever is going on tonight. I'm sure he'll call within the next couple of days."

She sighed, "You're right; I'm sorry, it's just I'm really worried about Theresa. You saw those bruises." She shook her head.

"Yes, I did and I'm worried too, but like I said, he'll call when the time is right." He rubbed her shoulders.

Her thoughts were interrupted by Larissa, who was yelling at Ana. "Give it back!"

Sharpay walked over to the two. Ana was curled up in a little ball and Larissa was towering over her, "What is going on here," she asked, moving Larissa out of the way and picking Ana up.

"She has my picture and won't give it back!" She tried to get the picture when Troy stepped in and took her hands.

"I think not," he said, picking the picture up off the floor. "Would this be the picture in question?"

"Oops…"

"Yeah, big 'oops,'" Troy said. "You are now finished watching the movie. Go upstairs and change into your pajamas," he said sternly.

"But…"

"No 'buts.' Go upstairs and change," Troy said.

"I don't want to!" She crossed her arms and stomped her foot…on Sharpay's bare foot. "Uh oh…"

"OUCH! Larissa Claire Bolton, get upstairs now," Sharpay yelled.

"That wasn't on purpose," she pleaded.

Troy sighed and picked her up, "Doesn't matter; I asked you to go upstairs and you didn't. Let's go," he said, carrying a protesting Larissa up the stairs.

Sharpay looked at Ana, who was observing the scene that had just played out before her. "Are you okay?"

Ana smiled, "Hi mama!"

"I'll take that as a yes," she said as she turned the TV off and headed upstairs as well.

"But I don't want to go to bed," Larissa whined.

"What's going on now," Sharpay asked.

Troy stood up, "She decided to kick the wall," he said, pointing to the wall by Larissa's bed which now had a small hole in it.

Sharpay's jaw dropped. "What…how did she manage that!"

"These," Troy said, gesturing to her shoes. "She has a very good kick."

"Obviously." Sharpay set Ana on her bed and walked over to Larissa. "We use our words in this house, young lady. No allowance for a month," she said as she walked to Ana's dresser and got her pajamas out.

"No, that's not fair," Larissa yelled.

"Want to make it two months," Troy said harshly.

Larissa didn't answer. She simply got into her bed and looked at her parents, "Go away."

Sharpay looked at her, "Don't make this worse, young lady."

Troy kissed Ana on the head after helping her get into bed, "Goodnight sweetie."

"Night, daddy," she said in her usual whisper.

He turned to Larissa, "Goodnight, Larissa," he said as he kissed her head. Even though he was mad at her, he wasn't going to change the bedtime routine.

Sharpay caught on to this, "Goodnight, Larissa." She kissed her as well and then kissed Ana goodnight and left the room.

Troy walked out of the room right behind her, "All over a picture," he said, shaking his head.

She shrugged, "Oh well, ce sera sera, right?"

"Huh?"

She sighed, "Don't you know any French? It means 'whatever will be, will be.'" **(Actually it's really 'that will be will be, but I changed the first word of it)**

"Oh, right. Now why didn't I think of that? Hmm, maybe because I took Spanish in high school."

She rolled her eyes and smiled, "You're kind of cute when you're sarcastic," she said as she kissed him.

"So are you," he said once they broke apart. He kissed her, this time even more passionately than when she kissed him.

"Mmm," she sighed, "Bedroom."

"Okay."

* * *

Ryan carried Theresa, who had fallen asleep in his lap to bed. Once the covers were over her, he couldn't help but to just look at her and wonder how someone could do this to her. Rob was damaging her; not just physically but emotionally as well. Ryan wiped a tear that had made its way from his eye to his cheek and kissed her on the head. He walked out of the room and into his own room and sat down on the bed. He was going to get full custody of her; the only thing he needed was concrete proof that Rob was doing this to her. Gabi was either totally oblivious to what was happening or was in complete denial. He decided that it had to be the first one; she would never let anyone hit her children.

"How do I get the proof," he asked himself as he slowly fell asleep.

* * *

**Another cliffhanger for you! So, how is Ryan going to get the proof he needs? What is that proof going to be? Please review and give me your thoughts, ideas, suggestions, etc…! They are much appreciated, truly! Thank you for reading!**

**P.S.- I hope you liked the Troy/Sharpay thing I threw in there...especially the last part of it...hehehehe. :) **


	6. The Truth Comes Out Pt 1

**Hello, thank you for the feedback! I've taken into consideration many ideas (again; as usual!) and came up with this. Hope you like it.**

**Disclaimer: Still not mine…except for the characters I made up.**

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_**New Beginnings, Ch. 6**_

**Two Weeks Later…**

Ryan tried and tried to get the judge to grant him full custody of Michael and Theresa, but the judge said that without hard proof, that just wasn't going to happen, so the current situation was still in place. It had been a full two weeks since the kids saw Gabi…and Rob. Michael, being so young, was the only one looking forward to going back; he loved his mom and Rob hadn't laid a hand on him; in fact, he pretty much ignored him. Theresa on the other hand did not want to go back. While she loved her mom very much, she also hated Rob a lot. But she knew that it would be illegal to not go visit for the weekend.

"Have everything you need," Ryan asked as Theresa brought her small suitcase out into the living room.

"I guess so," she said, looking at her feet.

He nodded, "Let's get going then."

Once there, Theresa grabbed Ryan's hand. "I don't want to go in," she said in a whisper.

"I'm sorry honey, but you have no choice," he said, smiling weakly at her.

Gabi came to the door, Angela in her arms. "Hi guys," she said, greeting her children. "Hello Ryan," she said coolly.

"Gabi," he said. "I need to use the bathroom really fast; I know that the one down here isn't working, so do you mind if I go upstairs?"

She shook her head, "No go ahead."

"Thanks." He went up the stairs. What Gabi didn't know was that Ryan went left instead right: he went into Theresa's room and placed the small camera that was in the same hand as Theresa's suitcase (which he said he'd bring to her room) on the dresser, behind her stuffed animals. Only the lens could be seen, but even that was hard to see. He turned it on, went into the bathroom, flushed the toilet and came back downstairs. "Okay, thank you." He turned to the kids, "Can I have my hugs," he asked with a small smile. Both kids walked over and gave him hugs. But Theresa wouldn't let go.

"Don't go daddy," Theresa pleaded, a few tears coming down her cheeks.

He kissed her head. "Just call if you need anything," he whispered. He wasn't about to tell her about the camera; he knew she would stare at it thus making it very easy for Rob to find it.

She nodded and watched as Ryan walked out to the car and left.

"Okay, so who wants some ice cream," Gabi said with a smile.

"Me!" Michael exclaimed.

Gabi smiled, "Okay…Theresa? Would you like some?"

She shook her head, "No, I just want to go upstairs," she said quietly.

"O-Okay," Gabi said slowly, watching Theresa walk up the stairs.

Theresa walked to her room and lay down on her bed. She looked out the window and could see that it was a cloudy day outside. She decided to take a nap.

"Theresa," Gabi said a few hours later, "Theresa wake up honey, it's time for dinner."

Theresa slowly opened her eyes. "Okay."

"Why don't you wash up and then come down?"

She nodded, "Okay mommy."

Gabi smiled and walked out of the room and down the stairs.

Theresa got off her bed and walked into the bathroom to wash her hands. As she walked into the bathroom, however, she tripped on the rug and fell flat on her face. She did her best not to cry, but when she saw the tiny blood stain on the rug from the new cut on her lip, she knew that she was in trouble.

"What have you done," boomed a voice from behind her.

She turned around and saw Rob standing over her. "I-I tripped…"

"Right, sure you did. Look at what you have done to the rug," he said as he grabbed her face and made her look at the blood stain.

"I'm sorry," she cried. "I didn't mean to!"

He grabbed her arm and yanked her up and slapped her across the face. "Of course you didn't mean to," he said mocking her tone.

"Rob! What are you doing?" Gabi asked from behind.

He turned around, "Gabi, look at what your daughter did to the rug." He pointed out the spot of blood.

Gabi shot him a look and then quickly went over to Theresa, "Honey what happened to your lip?"

"I tripped on the rug," she said, tears falling down her face.

Gabi could see red marks on her face as well. "Rob, what are these," she asked, pointing to the marks on her face, especially a rather large one from where he slapped her.

He shrugged, "Must be from when she tripped."

Gabi looked at him, "People don't get marks like these when they trip, Rob. What really happened here?"

"I'm telling you, Gabs, she tripped. Now quit with the third degree already." He walked out of the bathroom and down the stairs.

"Are you sure you're all right," she asked, putting a hand on Theresa's sore arm.

"OW!" Theresa cried out in pain.

Gabi rolled up her sleeve. "Oh my…honey what happened?"

"Nothing," she said quickly as she hurried out of the bathroom and down the stairs.

Gabi stayed behind for a moment. Could Ryan have been telling the truth all along? Was Rob really hurting Theresa? She shook her head and walked down the stairs to the kitchen and served dinner.

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Later that night, Theresa decided she was thirsty so she took her glass that was on her nightstand and walked to the bathroom and filled it with water. On the way back from the bathroom, some of the water spilled out, causing her hand to get slippery, which then caused her to lose the grip she had on the glass and it fell…CRASH to the floor. She shook her head, "No, please no," she said, trying to pick up the bigger pieces of glass before anyone could…too late.

"What the hell did you do now you little btch!" Rob yelled. **(I am one of those people who refuses to use the full curse word, so you'll see an asterisk somewhere in the middle of each one)**

"I'm sorry, I lost my grip," she said, walking away from Rob, who simply inched closer and closer to her.

"Oh you're going to be sorry, that's for sure," he growled as he hit her shoulder, causing her to fall backwards on to the floor.

"Get away!" She screamed, accidentally waking Angela.

"Now look what you've done!" He grabbed her by her pajama top and threw her on to her bed and slapped her.

Thankfully, the little camera was capturing all of this on film.

"Rob!" Gabi screamed from the door, Angela in her arms. "What the hell is going on in here!" She walked into the room and saw Theresa on the bed, tears in her eyes and broken glass on the floor.

"Everything's fine," he said; the crash you probably heard was the glass Theresa had in her hands. She was carrying it back to her room when it fell," he said, eyeing Theresa.

Gabi faced Theresa, "Is this true?"

Theresa, scared to death that Rob would do something else, just nodded. "I wanted to get a drink of water…but the glass broke," she said, her head hanging.

Rob looked at Gabi and flashed an innocent smile, "See? That's all that happened. I just came in here to see if everything was all right."

Gabi nodded, not sure of who to believe. "Okay…well did you hurt yourself, Theresa?" She then saw a huge mark on her chest from where Rob grabbed her. "What is this?"

"From when she dropped the glass," Rob interjected; everything's fine, honey. You take Angie and go back to bed." He kissed Gabi on the head.

She nodded, "All right…goodnight Theresa," she said as she moved to hug her.

Theresa moved forward to hug her mom, "Goodnight," she said sadly.

Gabi left the room.

Rob turned to Theresa and slapped her again, "That's for almost telling your mother," he snarled in a low voice.

Theresa ignored him and picked up the pieces of glass that weren't too small. There was a broom in the hall closet which she went and got to sweep up the remaining pieces. She then got into bed and cried herself to sleep. What she did not know, however, was that the small video camera had gotten all of this on tape.

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Ryan arrived at the house at exactly 3:00 the next day. He was hoping that his little plan to make Gabi believe him and get proof that Rob really was abusive worked. He rang the doorbell.

Gabi came to the door, "Hello," she said coolly as she let him into the house.

"Hi," he said just as coolly. "Where are the kids?"

"Theresa's up in her room and Michael's in the den watching a movie," she said. Her voice sounded a bit shaky.

He looked at her, "Is everything all right?"

"Hmm? Oh yeah, everything's fine; Theresa had a little accident with a glass of water last night, but that's about all."

"Is she all right," he asked as he hurried up the stairs to her room.

"She's fine," Gabi said, following him.

Ryan walked into Theresa's room, only to see an emotionless little girl sitting on the bed, another large bruise on her arm. Ryan rushed over to her, "Theresa, what happened?"

No answer.

He picked her up and held her, but she did not hug him whatsoever. Her face was expressionless and there were tear stains all over her face. "What happened," he asked Gabi again.

"She…she was fine an hour ago, I swear," Gabi said, genuinely concerned. "She was playing with her dolls and then Angela woke up and she stopped playing."

Ryan gave Gabi an odd look, "Why would she stop playing because she heard Angela cry?"

Gabi shrugged, "I have no idea."

"Where's Rob?"

"He had to go fix something at work, why?"

"Just wondering," he said. "So how many times did he hit her last night," he asked, setting Theresa back down on the bed; she had yet to utter a word.

Gabi gave an exasperated sigh, "How many times to I have to tell you that he doesn't hit her! Sure there's tension between the two of them, but he doesn't hit her; she said so herself."

"When?"

"Last night, after she dropped her glass…I heard screaming so I came in here but everything was fine," she said, not sure if that was true or not.

"Right…I still don't believe you," he said as he picked her back up.

She threw her hands in the air, "You are impossible! No wonder why we broke up!"

"No we broke up because you were with him."

"Don't start, Ryan," she said, her voice filling with anger.

Ryan looked over at Theresa who had started to cry quietly, "Honey what's wrong," he asked, picking her up again. As he did, she sobbed in his arms, putting her arms around his neck.

"It…was…my…fault," she said in between sobs.

"What was your fault," Gabi asked.

"When he got…mad…last night," she said.

Ryan looked at her and then remembered the camera. He walked over to the stuffed animals and pulled it out. He then looked at Gabi, who had a more-than-shocked look on her face.

"What the hell! You were spying on us?"

"Not exactly; but I'm pretty sure I have the proof I need that your fiancé is a complete jerk," he said, walking out of the room, Theresa in one arm along with the camera and her suitcase in the other. He walked downstairs.

Gabi followed him, "How dare you do this Ryan! I could sue you for what you just did!"

He looked at her, "Not after what you see on this tape," he said as he went into the den, collected Michael, along with his suitcase and left the house. He looked back at Gabi, "You'll be getting a subpoena tomorrow," he said as he walked to the car.

Gabi just stood there for a moment. A subpoena; for what! She followed him out to the car. "What is on that tape?"

"You'll just have to wait until tomorrow," he said coolly as he placed the two small suitcases into the trunk.

She sighed, "Ryan, wait."

He turned around, "What?"

"S-Show me the tape; I want to know," she said quietly.

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**Wow, what a cliffhanger! So I used the idea of the video camera; I hope you all liked it! The truth shall be known soon! So is Ryan going to let Gabi see the tape before he shows it to the court? If so, what's her reaction going to be? Think she already suspects something? Please review! And as always, thank you for reading!**


	7. The Truth Comes Out Pt 2 and Epilogue

**Hello, me again! Sorry I cut the previous chapter off at such a cliffhanger; I was just SO TIRED from work and had to lie down. Well, I did so and am up again. So, here's chapter 7!**

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Disclaimer: Same as always.**

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_**New Beginnings, Ch. 7**_

Ryan looked at her wearily, "What, you suddenly suspect him?"

She shrugged, "I don't know anymore…not after last night anyway. Please Ryan, just show me the tape."

"Daddy I want to go," Theresa said, beginning to cry again.

He picked Theresa up, "Are you sure you want to see this?"

She nodded, "I just don't know what to believe anymore," she said quietly.

"Fine," he said after a few moments. "Kids, we're going back inside; mommy and daddy have to…talk," he said as he took them out of the car and followed Gabi back into the house. He set the kids in the family room and had Gabi follow him to the den so they could watch the tape without Theresa having to relive it. "You're sure you want to see this?"

"Just play it," she said, bracing herself for the worst.

He stuck the tape in the VCR and pressed 'play.'

Gabi's face turned from wonderment to pure horror. "Oh my G-d…not my baby," she whispered, on the verge of tears.

Ryan, who had never actually seen Rob hit Theresa, was even shocked. "Oh dear Lord," he said to himself.

When the tape finished, Ryan pressed 'stop' and the two just sat there, unable to come up with anything to say.

"Damn him," Gabi said under her breath after a minute. "How could I have been so…so…stupid!" She stood up and paced around the room, tears coming down her face. "He has been hitting her all this time and I have been defending him!"

Ryan watched her for a moment, "I…I guess if I was in your shoes I would probably do the same thing," he said after another moment of silence.

"Ryan…he has been hitting her! I feel like such a fool for falling for all of his excuses," she said, sitting back down. "Please Ryan, please forgive me," she said as she covered her face with her hands and cried softly.

"That'll take a while I think, but since Rob is going away for quite some time, I'm sure that you will get that one weekend back for visits," he offered.

She looked up at him, "I don't deserve to see them," she said, still crying. "Not after what I did to our daughter. The judge is going to see that and so is…" She was interrupted by the door. "Oh no, he's back." She stood up and walked into the hall where she saw Rob hanging up his jacket.

"Hi honey," he said as he moved in for a kiss.

"Don't you 'hi honey' me you bastard!" She nearly yelled.

"Whoa, what are you talking about," he asked, eyeing Ryan who had walked out of the den.

"I know what you have been doing to my daughter and I want you out…NOW! I don't ever want to see you, hear from you, nothing!"

"You will not talk to me like that," he said as he walked towards her, a menacing look on his face. "Besides, we have a daughter. What will the judge say about that?"

"He'll say that you will never see her again," she yelled. "I won't have you do the same thing to her as what you have done to Theresa."

He looked at Ryan who had just gotten off the phone. "Who the hell do you think you are, coming into my home, feeding these lies to my fiancé, turning her against me?"

"I think I am about to be quite satisfied," he said as there was banging on the front door. Ryan went to answer it; there were several policemen on the other side. Ryan told them where Rob was.

"You are under arrest for child abuse, Mr. Cramer ((just realized I didn't have a last name for him!))," one of the officers said as he handcuffed him. "Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law."

Rob looked at Ryan and Gabi, "This isn't over…"

"Shut up and get the hell out of my house," Gabi said.

Once he was gone, she ran into the family room and scooped Theresa up in her arms. "Oh honey, I am so sorry," she said with tears in her eyes. "I love you more than anything, you know that, right?"

Theresa simply nodded and for the first time in a very long time, gave her mom a meaningful hug.

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**Two Months Later…**

Rob had been sentenced to 5 years in jail and had a restraining order put out against him by Gabi.

Ryan had gone back to his lawyer and had him give back joint custody to Gabi, which Theresa was actually happy about.

Ryan and Gabi had decided to try out family therapy, which would not only help Theresa to get past what had been done to her, but help Ryan and Gabi's relationship as well. Both of them knew that they were never going to get back together, but they did know that things were going to go much more smoothly after a lot of therapy and talking.

Michael had even started to warm up to his new sister. He still didn't like not being the youngest, but got used to the fact that he was a big brother now.

Theresa was glad to have _him_ out of her life for good and to be able to see her mom more often and spend more time with her than she had in a very long time.

Things definitely began to improve for the Montez-Evans family; slowly but surely.

**THE END**

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**Fin. That's all! I didn't want to write anymore for this story; it's way too depressing. I'm trying to decide whether or not to write a sequel to "And Baby Makes Six," that basically kind of starts off where that left off (with Troy and Sharpay and their family that is). Should I? Please let me know.**

**Thank you very much for reading this!**


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